The End of War - Oct 22 2023

 

The End of War

Oct 22 2023

I don't need to tell you

about the war,

it's all anyone's talking about.

Maybe not this one.

Doesn't matter, choose your own,

because when isn't there a war

somewhere in the world?

Civil, surprise

and robust intervention,

asymmetric

incremental

epidemic terror.

Wars of words

that stir up division,

dirty bombs

and historical revision.

And fighting over history itself,

because the first victim of war

is always the truth.

The tall foreheads

may debate geopolitics

and future scenarios,

invent clever monikers

for their cable news spot.

Bloviate

over tactical advantages and facts on the ground,

tongue wag

on the chance of re-election

if the war goes on and on.

But for the front-line soldier

thinking of home,

the innocent man

tending to his fields,

there is only crossfire

and shoot or be shot.

No master plan

or strategic alliances.

No noble end

to justify the means,

no lasting peace or cold peace

and no surrendering.

No shock and awe

and overwhelming force,

no armed insurrection

and no forever war.

Because their only exit strategy

is a simple binary choice.

But no choosing, of course,

and no tall foreheads required.

If not a cluster bomb

that looks like a toy,

then a smart bomb

that somehow lost its way.

If not a bullet to the chest

then shrapnel to the head,

some messenger of God

sent to avenge.

If not life

the certain death,

and the end of war

for all time and forever.

Which is just what we've been hoping for

if not what we meant.